In the name of Christmas
by The Cheesy Sock
Summary: After years of unsuccessful relationships, Severus Snape finds love in the most unexpected of places. Warning: strange pairing. Includes Snape x er.. original character. It would spoil the plot if I told you who though. You'll have to read to find out.


This story is very strange. If you don't like strange pairings, please don't read it. I would tell you who I've paired Snape off with, but that would spoil the - er... twist.

It's more along the lines of Cho/Giant Squid than Snape/Harry, though. That will give you a clue as to how strange it is. ;)

Disclaimer: I do not write Harry Potter. But I did write this fanfic, so please don't steal it.

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In the name of Christmas

Severus Snape knew that he had finally found his destined life-mate. How stupid he'd been, he thought, as he snuggled closer to her sturdy bulk. She had been here all along, waiting for him to discover her.

Snape grinned sheepishly as he realised this was the furthest he'd ever come with anyone. He wasn't going to tell her that, though… he didn't want her to think he was a novice in the ways of love.

He shivered as he felt her gentle touch on the nape of his neck. What he hadn't been able to believe at first was that she wanted him back. They both knew that many things barred their love, but neither of them had wanted to give it up. They couldn't help it; when they were together, Snape felt a kind of peace that he couldn't get from anything else. And when he touched her, emotions exploded inside him – emotions he'd never felt before. Emotions he only felt with her.

Nothing was this good. Nothing. Torturing his potions class came close, Snape admitted, but when he told her that she was the most special thing in his life they both knew he meant it.

Snape smiled fondly as he remembered the say it all began…

He'd decided to join the "Wizards of the Earth" society – a group that were devoted to the living world. What he hadn't realised at first was that the people at "Wizards of the Earth" actually believed that trees had souls. They had personalities. They were people.

However, one girl there had really inspired Snape. She had guided him through it all – the scepticism, the insults, the laughter… In her Snape sensed a kindred spirit. At first he had no idea what it was, but then she'd let him in on her secret.

She loved trees.

Literally.

Suddenly, it all made sense. Snape realised what had gone wrong; he knew the secret that he'd been keeping from himself. He knew why every time he'd been out with someone, it hadn't felt right. He'd always been isolated as the one without love, even from his first year at Hogwarts, and every time he'd tried to make a relationship work, it had collapsed. Now he knew why.

He loved trees.

Literally.

As soon as the girl had confessed to him, he felt enlightened. It was as if he'd been viewing the world through a clouded glass, and only now had he tossed it away and started to see things with his own eyes.

Of course, knowing you loved trees was only the first step. You had to find the right one. Like people, all trees had different personalities and Snape had only been attracted to some.

He'd had a long-term relationship with the Whomping Willow, but realised after he had inspected the bruises and injuries that the Willow had inflicted on him one night he had to face the fact that by nature the Whomping Willow was cruel and abusive. If he had continued their relationship, he wouldn't have got anywhere, so, after much soul-searching, Snape decided to stop seeing it.

He'd been lost for weeks. He would have liked to think that the Willow wilted for a while, too.

For a while, his life had been flat. At times, he'd considered going to the Willow and begging it to take him back, but he knew things were not to be. He had to be strong. Even still, it took a time for things to be normal again.

Snape couldn't help lashing at students more often, and issuing more detentions. Taking his anger out on the students was the method he'd always used to cope with his emotional problems.

He'd tried explaining his feelings to his owl Andrew once, but Andrew was a poor listener; he fidgeted and hooted all the time. Sometimes he even turned away, as if bored to death with Snape's problems. Owls just couldn't listen like trees could…

Snape sighed. Wistfully, he remembered that romantic night… he'd brought over a special plant-potion for the Willow and a pair of secateurs to trim a few of the tree's dead branches. The moon had been bright, the stars gleamed overhead…

Snape abruptly halted his train of thought. Lusting after the Whomping Willow wasn't going to help anything, he thought angrily, and scribbled an "E" on a piece of homework he hadn't even glanced at yet.

Then he met Margaret, or Margie, as Snape liked to call her. She was a fir tree, and a beautiful one at that. Her foliage was lush and a delectable shade of dark green, her bark rough to the touch but not too scratchy. She had just the right number of branches, and they weren't too high or too low.

Snape knew she was the one, and almost as swiftly as his love life had dwindled into nothing, it flared up again. He read to her, talked to her, listened to the wind in her branches and imagined what she could be saying… he could have stayed with her all the time…

When he was stressed, Margie relaxed him, and gave him encouragement. She never complained, and she was always supportive. She even called him pet names. Sometimes.

Once more, Snape's life had purpose. He walked with a bounce in his step and a sparkle in his eyes. He even washed his hair – occasionally. He planned months before Valentine's day what he was going to give Margie, and how he was going to make the day one of the most special in his life.

Alas, for their relationship was not to last to that day. One fateful morning, Severus was on his way to visit Margie when he saw Hagrid dragging a fir tree along the ground.

For a moment, time stopped. Snape was frozen watching the horrific scene. The fir tree had been mercilessly hacked to death, murdered by the gigantic monster of a groundskeeper. Groundskeepers were supposed to look after trees, Snape's thoughts cried out. But he murdered one in its prime!

Tears sprang to Snape's eyes, falling onto the purely white snow. He knew it was Margie.

Helplessly, Snape watched as Hagrid dragged Margie towards the dark fortress that was Hogwarts. For Snape at that moment, Hogwarts was a dark blot on the horizon. That place would be the morgue in which Margie was kept; tinsel and baubles hung on her body, a source of entertainment for all, Snape thought bitterly. She would be kept there for a time before Hagrid dragged her back out again and burnt her on a bonfire with the rubbish and waste, like some useless object, and not a person…

Snape knelt down beside Margie's stump; he was beyond caring that the snow was soaking through his cloak. His whole body was numb. The last of Margie's sap trickled down the side of the stump; her life blood. Snape inclined his head and closed his eyes.

A beautiful young tree, cut down and murdered, all in the name of Christmas.

Snape rose and began to walk away as the snowflakes started to fall.

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Please review. You can flame me if you want, but only if you can bear the guilt of knowing that you have made me cry and feel very, very unloved.


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